As Summit Eye Associates’ 10-year anniversary came into sight, doctors decided their birthday should be cause for community celebration.

Instead of cake and ice cream, the Gastonia practice decided on a long list of contributions to mark the office’s birthday.

Summit Eye gave away contact lenses, free glasses and gift cards. The office paid a single mother’s utility bill for the month. It collected canned foods for needy residents. And on the 10th day of The Big Give Back, the practice did exactly what their patients asked.

They gave more than a dozen donations to nonprofits that focus on health, healing, education and the arts.

The original idea was to contribute to 10 good causes that patients chose. Summit’s message went out on Facebook in January, asking patients and fans to name their favorite aid organizations.

The response was huge. Nominations came in for more than 70 organizations.

“We couldn’t narrow it down,” says Darylene Finkelstein, who works as the practice’s marketing coordinator.

People didn’t just write to say which charity should get some help.

They shared their stories, their needs and the ways those needs had been met by the organizations they hoped Summit would support.

Like the mother who wrote about sitting up with her diabetic son at 3 a.m., making sure he was OK throughout the night. A diabetic alert dog could have done the job for her.

Warren Retrievers, which trains and provides alert dogs throughout the Southeast, made it onto the list of good causes getting some help from Summit Eye.

Dr. Ann Hoscheit, who founded the practice in 2003, thanked patients and friends in a video message posted to Summit Eye Facebook this month.

“For each of you, a heartfelt thank you for not only supporting Summit Eye Associates but for loving Gaston County as much as we do,” she said.